MIS 300 Management Information Systems

1
MIS 300 Management Information Systems

• Software and Programming Overview
• A Prelude to Actual Computer Programming

2
Overview of Software

• Basic Types of Software
• System software
• Application software
• Creating Software via Programming
• Programming Concepts
• Programming in Visual Basic for Applications
  (next week)

3
Software Classifications
4
Further Classification of Software

• Application Software
• SAP
• Quicken
• Voyager

• System Development Software
• Access, Visual Basic
• Visual Studio, InterDev
• PowerBuilder

• System Software
• Windows 98, 2000, NT, XP
• UNIX, Linux
• Device Drivers

• End-user Software
• Excel, Word, Access
• Photoshop

5
Systems Software

• Common Hardware Functions
• User Interface
• Hardware Independence
• Memory Management

• Processing Tasks
• Networking Capability
• Access to System Resources
• File Management

6
The OS and the API
7
GUI

• Whats a GUI?
• What are examples of GUIs?
• Whats difference between GUI and the OS?
• What is not a GUI?

8
Microsoft Launches Windows XPOct 25, 2001

• New User Interface
• New multimedia programs (Media Player 8.0)
• IE6 and Internet Messenger
• Stability speed similar to Win 2000
• Remote Assistance and new Activation procedure
• Home networking tools

• XP Home
• 99
• XP Pro
• 199

9
More About XP
PC Labs _at_ PC Magazine

• 128 MB RAM recommended but 256 MB is better
• 550MHz or faster CPU clock nice but 300 OK
• Some old DOS programs wont work
• Get XP Pro if doing home networking

10
XP Activation Scheme (WPA)

• Goal is to reduce piracy
• Must activate XP within 30 days via Internet or
  telephone
• Remote assistance
• HW change may require reactivation
• Preactivation by OEMs
• Invasive? Big brother?

• 25 digit Win XP product ID code

42 digit activation code

• based on video card, network card, SCSI
  controller, hard drive, CPU, and memory
  configuration
• creates nonunique

WPA Tool
11
There are alternatives
Linux
Mac OS X (10.1)
12
Multi-User OS

• Juggle multiple jobs from multiple users wanting
  multiple resources
• Network OS worries about nodes on network,
  communication
• UNIX, Linux, Windows NT/2000, Novell Netware
• Issues with OS
• Compatibility (e.g. Wintel and Mac)
• What is the OS? (e.g. MS anti-trust suit)

13
What is Programming?

• What is computer programming?
• Translation of idea of what computer should do to
  a set of instructions that a computer can execute
• Algorithms
• How do you write computer programs?
• Divide and conquer (decomposition, modules)
• Use structured programming concepts
• Plan, try, make mistakes, think, get it working
• Commonly used programming languages?
• C, C, Visual Basic, Java, COBOL

14
Programming a translation process
15
From Source Code to Executable Program
Source code
Executable Program
Source code
Source code
Linker
Compiler
Libraries
Object Code
16
Programming Languages - Trends

• Greater non-procedurality
• Tell the computer What to do, not How to do it
• Greater modularity and reusability
• Greater machine and data independence
• Java
• easy to talk to different databases
• Tighter links between analysis and programming
• CASE let the computer write some of the program

17
Basing System on DBMS

• Why use general DBMS?
• Data access
• Data independent from application
• Choose DBMS that can grow with the business
• Other software issues due to growth of business
  to multiple sites?

18
CASE Tools

• Let the computer do some of the programming
• Tools range from simple-focused to
  complex-comprehensive
• Form and Report Wizards in Access
• CoolGen, Oracle Designer in MIS 316

19
From user requirements to executable machine code
20
3GL and 4GL

• 3GL High level language
• C, Fortran, Basic, C, VB, Java, Pascal, COBOL
• Very, very, very structured English
• 4GL Attempt to make programming easier
• Often subset of other package (e.g. DBMS)
• Query languages, report generators
• CASE tools

21
Special Purpose Programming Languages

• Simulation (and other) Modeling
• Spreadsheets
• Very flexible
• Error prone
• Excel has its own programming language (VBA)

22
What is Visual Basic for Applications?
Its the glue!

• Common programming component shared among MS
  Office applications
• Shared with Visual Basic 4.0 and later
• Creation and manipulation of application objects
  such as spreadsheets, databases, documents, mail,
  projects
• Facilitates application interoperability
• Make different applications work together

23
Why VBA IT ALLOWS YOU TO DO STUFF IN AN
AUTOMATED FASHION

• Create applications based on MS Office products
• Manipulate objects in object model of
  applications
• Customize way product appears
• Leverage capabilities of pre-built objects in
  various applications

Limited only by your imagination
24
Why Learn to Program in VBA?

• Algorithmic thinking important to business
  analysis
• Business solutions often require some programming
• Huge productivity gains possible
• Ability to code is a very valuable skill
• Its fun

25
Whats needed from you

• No prior programming experience required
• A logical mindset
• Willingness to experiment and learn
• Plenty of practice
• Perseverance

26
VBAGeneral ProgrammingObject Manipulation
VBA Applications
General Programming Concepts
Application Specific Object Model